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The Campus Connection: Thursday's Pep Rally

What's up Canes fans? RT6 reporting from the 305. Sorry for not having anything for ya'll lately; Mid- terms are in full swing at this point in the semester. Anyway, got some time off on Tuesday so I went to watch the team practice. I am not going to tell you how (for obvious reasons) I did but I had a great view and noticed some things. That Shannon outburst that has him screaming and calling D-Mo a "real" hurricane shows me one thing; Shannon demands perfection.

I couldn't figure out what was going on on the field until I got back to my room and hit the Herald. I can honestly say that the players sure looked like they were working hard. I guess Shannon's view of hard is considered suicide to others. Also, I overheard CC at the UC say that he liked Charlie Weis (Sportscenter was on and they mentioned Weis). I don't know what this means so I'll leave it up to you.

The best part of the week is the pep rally. Just got back and immediately started writing this. I was thinking of getting a picture with Sebastian and Shalala with me in the middle but I know how some of you feel about her. Instead I got Sebastian and me throwing up the U. Obviously, the highlight of the show was Kayne Farquharson and Khalil Jones speaking in front of us.

Kayne did all the talking and said that the color for this weeks game is orange. His words, "Ya'll need to come out and wear orange ya know so we gonna have an orange bowl party!" He also got Sebastian to do the C-A-N-E-S twice and to top it off he said AFTER we win, he then turns around and asks one of the cheerleaders on a date to the cheesecake factory. She blatently rejects with all the others players going nuts. Ya'll should have seen it, it was great.

In the most ironic of senses, the Yellow Jacket Pinata broke on the first swing hopefully symbolizing that the Canes are going to blow out GT.  Who am I to mess with fate? Canes 31, GT 7. I'm out like Carlous Armour.

Carolina Dreamin'...

A Chapel Hill Pictorial
By Canesgirl NC

Exciting to see my team for the first time this season!  Living in Charlotte, going to the Orange Bowl is not, like Solar says, a gimme anymore.  I have to wait for them to come here and I go to them once a year.  This game did not turn out like any of us hoped. The last few years the Canes would not have called a deep ball from the 3 yard line, or gone for it on 4th down or tried an onside kick. It was reminiscent of what Miami Football is about. 

Yet for those who attended and left with 6 minutes on the clock you missed an exciting comeback attempt.  The rebuilding is taking place of this I have no doubt.  Some things may be fixed and patched while others may need to be torn down completely and rebuilt.  I’ll wait.

There were Canes fans old and Canes fans new!

Tarheel fans wearing Carolina blue. 

Aqua and CGNC - part of the Canespace Crew. 

CanesgirlNC found AnothercanesgirlinNC from the SS blog

And a man who couldn’t figure out which side to be on.

A sea of orange and green on the edge of their seats.

And in the 4th quarter up on their feet.

As time expired - leaving the field in defeat.

Carolina Blues

Feature article written by Tom Popadak (86Cane).  Photos courtesy of Ralph Crosby (Solarcane).

After a stunning upset loss at the hands of former UM coach Butch Davis and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday, the Canes find themselves searching for answers to try to explain what exactly happened during the first half of the game in Chapel Hill.  The Tar Heels jumped out to a big early lead fueled by UM turnovers, penalties, poor special teams play (again) and general sloppy execution by the Canes in all phases of the game.  And, before you could spell F-a-r-q-u-h-a-r-s-o-n it was 27-0 and game over.

The Hurricanes came out flat and proceeded to fall flat on their face in front of a national television audience on ESPN2 before most fans had time to find a seat and grab a hot dog or a cold beverage.  The Canes were outplayed, outcoached and outscored by a 1-4 Tar Heel team playing freshman and sophmores at key positions and generally considered to be at the bottom of the food chain in the ACC.  Coach Shannon got schooled by his former boss and mentor and knows he has his work cut out for him trying to find some positive lessons to take from this game for his team.

Everybody's favorite whipping boy Kyle Wright led the way with four, that's right count 'em, four interceptions on the day, but he was by no means alone in his poor play.  The Canes vaunted defense gave up several big plays and scores with Carlos Armour missing a key early tackle and and the entire defense looked confused and outhustled for most of the first half.  To add to the misery UM punter Matt Bosher had a punt blocked that led to an easy UNC score.  Ryan Hill was a bright spot among the dreary play returning to the lineup and returning kick offs effectively on several attempts. 

Basically, it was a game Canes coaches, players and fans would just as soon forget.  Fans on blogs everywhere across Caneland spent the rest of Saturday and most of Saturday night either complaining about the team's performance or drowning their sorrows and trying to drink away the memory of the dreadful game.  Neither approach provided much comfort or solace to the Canes' loyal Legion of fans.

So 1300+ posts later, the Legion finds itself here, at the crossroads, wondering what comes next for this UM team in 2007.  Does this team come back swinging and stomp Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl next Saturday and stay in the thick of the race for the ACC title or do they mail in the next game and disappoint the home crowd with another poor performance? 

Canes fans, it's up to you to make the call in our new poll below.  And while you're at it, if you count yourself among those with religious beliefs, you might want to say a prayer for Coach Shannon.  The feeling here is that he is going to need all the help he can get to turn this team around and turn them into believers and winners once again.

The Short List To The Superdome: Week 6

After the fallout from a wild weekend of college football, the list of teams still in the running for the right to play in the only bowl game of any importance reads as follows:

Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, UF, Vanderbilt, UK, Ohio St., Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan St., Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, TAMU, Texas Tech, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas St., Kansas, VT, Miami, FSU, Clemson, BC, Southern Cal, Oregon, ASU, Cal, WVA, USF, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and UConn.

The perfect record of only 14 teams remains intact out of only 36 remaining potential teams remain on the Shortlist.  This percentage only will continue to grow to a premium in the second month of the season as if two or more unbeaten teams remain after the conference championships, those teams will remain on the Shortlist while all others are discarded from consideration.  Last week, only one team in the entire nation lost a Shortlist elimination game and saw it's sights set to next year:

1) Penn State falls on the road for the second week in a row to Illinois 27-20.  There aren't that many "next year's" left in the career of Joe Paterno but Happy Valley seems to have decided to ride his career off into the sunset for better or worse.  In the meantime, Paterno won't have to worry about complaining about being left out unjustly as in the past as this time.

Two teams avoided elimination last week despite my calling for otherwise, both a pair of the Big Ten:

1) Indiana continues to defy the odds as they go on the road to Iowa and come away with a impressive 38-20 as they spoil homecoming for the Hawkeyes.  At this rate, it will be a stormy 10 year anniversary for Kirk Frerentz and the Iowa City natives next year.  I thought Iowa had a shot a double digit win season this year going in, but a three game losing streak has me wondering if the Hawkeyes might not even make a bowl this year.

2) Illinois, as mentioned above, snuffs out Penn State's glimmer of hope of going to New Orleans after New Year's.  Excuse me while I laugh at the sight of Joe Paterno getting put out to pasture by of all people, Ron Zook!  Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is when you know the game has passed you by, when the Zooker is getting the best of you.  The party comes to an end for the man who recruited Urban Meyer's upperclassmen this week as the Wisconsin Badgers find yet another way to stay perfect by the skin of their teeth and knock the Illini off the Shortlist, but it's obvious that Zook has his teamed primed for a long awaited bowl berth up in Champaign-Urbana.

The teams that find their championship quest end in the first week of October read as follows:

UF, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Texas, Nebraska, and VT.

Of them all, the defending national championships have the most to both gain and lose this week as a win keeps them in prime title contention, while a loss guarantees a new national champion in the college ranks.  Urban Meyer always has his team ready to play but LSU looks too loaded to me this year for a youthful Florida squad. 

Last week's dual upsets of both Texas and OU turn the traditonal Red River Shootout into a Shortlist elimination game this year.  Some pundits would say the luster is now off this game compared to last week but I would contend that if anything, the tension in the hi-drama football spectacle has only been amplified as I expect a well contested game.  Enjoy the games this week and I'll see you back here next week to sort through the wreckage of broken dreams that lie along the margins of the Shortlist to the Superdome.

Copyright 2007 by Christopher Whelpton for Canespace

The Past, Present and Future

The Miami Hurricanes face the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill this week in an ACC conference game (noon on ESPN2) that offers Canes fans a rare glimpse into the unique timeline of their beloved team.  So let's take a brief look back, a snap shot of today and then a sneak peak forward, into the Canes past, present and future.

Former Canes coach Butch Davis, in his first year as the UNC Head Coach, is attempting to start a new football tradition at a school that has traditionally been all about basketball.  Meanwhile, the Canes are also sporting a new first year coach in Randy Shannon who is busy trying to restore the tradition of excellence at a school that has experienced unparalleled success when playing with the ball with pointed ends but can't seem to get the round ball to drop when it counts.

The Past: Butch Davis was responsible for rebuilding the Canes back into a major powerhouse while enduring sanctions imposed by the NCAA for sins under coach Dennis Erickson's tenure.  He was a recruiting guru who knew talent when he saw it and could close the deal.  He stocked the talent pool that led to a three year run that saw the Canes win it all in 2001, win it again in 2002 (well if you don't count the refs stealing our trophy and giving it to Mr. Sweater Vest!) and compete at a high level again in 2003.  Now, after a brief and unremarkable stint in the NFLU with the Cleveland Browns, Coach Davis takes over a UNC team that will need every recruiting skill and ounce of energy he has to offer if he is to turn that program around and into contenders in the ACC.

The Present: Randy Shannon takes over a Canes team struggling for respect and national recognition after a miserable 7-6 season under former coach Larry Coker.  Shannon has already changed the rules, the uniforms and the attitude of the 2007 team.  Some fans felt that coach Coker was too lenient on the team which led to players being in poor condition, developing lazy practice habits and ultimately playing poorly on game day.  Shannon quickly closed and boarded up "Club Coker" and implemented a no nonsense approach of competition and accountability that has begun to filter through the team. 

The Future: "The Boss", as coach Shannon is affectionately known here, has also made a major impact in recruiting so far early in the battle for the class of 2008.  The Canes have 17 early verbal commits which was totally unheard of over the last several years.  More importantly The Boss has closed down every road leading into or out of the 305, 954 and 561 and is focusing on an incredibly ultra-rich (even for the area) talent pool this year in South Florida.  The talent coming out of Miami Northwestern High School alone this year could stock the Canes for a major run at a national championship in 2009 and beyond.  Throw in some BTW speedsters and some of those"muck boys" out in Pahokee and it could get very ugly for the competition!  As a result, the future already looks bright for the Canes under Coach Shannon.

Now these past and the present UM coaches square off this Saturday in their first of many head-to-head meetings of ACC competition.  On paper, the Tar Heels appear to be outmatched by the team wearing Orange and Green.  But in a season where Appalacian State beat Michigan at the big house, Notre Lame is 0-5 and USF beat Auburn at home who then beat the Gators at the Swamp, well anything can happen. 

The Canes new, old QB Kyle "he may finally be" Wright and his new found confidence will need another solid game, this time on the road.  The Defense is expected to be stingy as usual, but faces a stiff test against UNC's passing game.  The Canes NON-special teams will have to continue to search for a way to be special again. Coach Shannon will have to out coach the former coach for the Canes to get the win. 

It says here that all of this will happen and the Canes win this first battle of former and current coaches 27-13.  The question is, what say U?